Tehran has offered its opinion on the US’s response to an EU draft text for the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal, says Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani.
“After receiving the United States’ response, the Islamic Republic’s expert team examined it carefully and Iran’s responses were compiled and submitted to the coordinator tonight,” Kanaani said in early Friday.
“The text that was sent (by Iran) has a constructive approach aimed at finalizing the negotiations,” he added.
Iran’s response was prepared “following evaluation on various levels,” the official added.
The United States unilaterally withdrew from the landmark deal in 2018, and reinstated crippling sanctions under the so-called “maximum pressure” campaign, despite Iran’s full compliance with the deal.
Since last year, the Austrian capital has been hosting multiple rounds of talks between the signatories of the deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in order to examine the prospect of the deal’s revival and removal of the illegal economic sanctions.
The negotiations have seen many interruptions due to Washington’s obdurate refusal to respect Iran’s red lines.
The European Union, which acts as the coordinator in indirect talks between Tehran and Washington, recently came up with a draft proposal to revive the deal. Tehran offered its response, which the bloc described as “reasonable.”
The United States took several weeks to offer its response to Iran’s comments.
Speaking during a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on Wednesday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said the country was reviewing the US’s response, but stressed the importance of “stronger guarantees” from the American side to clinch an agreement.
“We have received the American side’s last text, and my colleagues are closely studying the response with the required [level of] rigor and speed,” he remarked, flanked by Lavrov.
The top Iranian diplomat, however, asserted that Tehran needed a “stronger text and stronger guarantees” to wrap up the negotiations.
Source: Iranian media (edited by Al-Manar English Website)
